Horde 2.0
:For the Horde mode in Gears of War 2, see Horde. Horde 2.0 is the redesigned Horde mode for Gears of War 3. Horde 2.0 allows the players to set up static defenses to help them fend off 50 waves of the Locust Horde. Players may use Barriers, Turrets, Decoys, Sentries, Command Centers and even a Silverback to keep the enemies at bay. Currency is earned for each kill and for completing wave challenges, which they can use between waves to build and maintain their defenses and buy weapons and ammo boxes. Weapons and ammo dropped by enemies can be used as well, but disappear when the next round starts. As players get into higher waves, expect the profit and difficulty to rise time by time. Unlike Horde 1.0, the foes will vary. In Horde 1.0, players who started off at round 1 began off with Drones and Wretches. In Horde 2.0, they can have a variety of foes at wave 1, varying from Tickers to Lambent Drones. Units will start to have better weaponry and change their behavior over time, too. For example, once a player reaches wave level 5, Lambent Drones start to use Gnasher Shotguns, Lambent Drudges begin to transform after being damaged enough, more units will spawn per wave etc. Bosses, picked at random from a Brumak, Gunkers, Savage Corpsers, Lambent Berserker, Berserkers, or a Reaver squad, will make an appearance every ten rounds. Support troops (ordinary enemies) will appear in addition to the boss. Check the Enemies section to see which enemies are new in Horde 2.0. Setup Wave 1 will not start until the player(s) set up a command post. There are four or more command posts per map to choose from. The players can't build fortifications anywhere they like. As soon as a command post is activated, available static sites appear in the vicinity (two exceptions: silverback and onyx guard can move). The player can only see sites he can build depending on his fortification experience progress. Four colors show the options a player has: *Green: Fortification can be built *Red: Insufficient money to build, fully repair, reload or rebuild *Yellow: Fortification can be fully repaired, reloaded or rebuild *Blue: Fortification can be upgraded (only available for fully repaired fortifications) Just like in Versus, there are several weapon spawn points on every map, as well as ammo boxes to refill weapons. Those can be bought immediately, even before the first base has been established (Check Weapons for prices). Buyable weapons will be highlighted in green if the player is close so he can tell them apart from the dropped ones. Note that a lot of spawn points switch the appearing weapon every round, like Boomshots, Torque Bows, Hammers of Dawn, heavy weapons, pistols, and grenades. Players must hold Y to buy weapons; the player who bought it will then pick it up replacing their previous weapon which will be dropped (Note that you can't buy or pick up weapons holding a heavy weapon). Ammo boxes refill every weapon that is not yet at maximum capacity (one grenade as well) and will not disappear if used. Players can also trade currency with each other, just like the ammo trade, by pressing B while standing near and aiming at a player (Y for ammo). When one post is activated, the team has 30 seconds to buy fortifications and find a good position before the first wave starts. Note: If there is a host migration, the next wave will start 30 seconds after players respawn, even if no base has been established. Earning Points and Money Apparently players earn the same amount of money as of points by hurting, killing and spotting enemies. The earned money isn`t affected by the difficulty level or the chosen mutators, but points are. While points always counts for the whole team, money must be earned by every player for himself, which doesn`t really matter if you play as a team swapping money if needed. But there are ways to "waste" money and points (aside of using turrets or get fortifications damaged): *Assists (by foe). For example, you can have a Drudge kill a Locust Drone, due to that they are both enemies, the Drudge assist will have the player get reduced points. *Enemies get downed or killed by the ink cloud of a dying Kantus. *Enemies get killed by barriers (especially Tickers, Polyps or Formers; expect a great point loss if a bigger enemy is killed by a barrier as well, even if you dealt 99% of the overall damage). *Enemies get killed by the Onyx Guards called by the command center (indoor maps) or built as a level 8 decoy. *Overall points for an infantry unit are reduced if he wasn`t killed at once, but first downed and then killed (check Enemy List for details). Though impractical, downing him twice and killing him earns more points/money. Points The team get points for every wave survived. If all team members die the counter will reset to zero. The score will be saved for every map, showing in leaderboards how well a team performed. The set difficulty and chosen mutators reduce or boost the points earned after each wave. *Casual = 100% *Normal = 150% *Hardcore = 200% *Insane = 250% Additional points are rewarded for surviving players at the end of a wave (200 x (% of suriving players) x (unit digit of wave number); for example: if 2 of 4 players survived wave 25 they will get (200) x (0.50) x (5) = 500 points. Money Money is earned by hurting, killing, downing and spotting enemies as well as reviving other players and completing challanges partial or complete. The only way to lose money you already earned is by being downed. However, the money can be saved for the team if the player is revived, earns the savior the money the downed player lost: $100 for every time down, no further penalties when killed. Everyone starts off with $1000. Upon completing a round, all players earn an extra $250 each, which is not included in earned cash. Because of that, the more players participating the more cash is in the game to buy and fortify. Spotting an enemy is always useful. Aside from warning your team against incoming enemies, you will always get extra money if an enemy with your mark is killed, while the assisted players don`t get less points. The bigger the enemy the bigger your reward for spotting: about 17% of the overall points for the kill. If you kill the enemy all by yourself you wont get more points than usual. Remember that you can spot enemies and earn money even after death in ghost cam mode. Instead of buying weapons, try to get used to the usage of enemy weapons. Remember that you will get some ammo for your starting weapons after each wave, as long as you dont have more than a certain amount already. That includes Lancer, Retro Lancer, Hammburst, Gnasher Shotgun, Sawed-Off and all pistols (see Weapons for details). If you want to benefit from that by switching to one of these weapons, do it before a wave ends to get the extra ammo. Save some money for dire situations. When most members of your team die and you have to fight a boss alone or with someone else, you will be happy to have some dollars left to buy an ammo crate or two. Think about which fortification can be useful in the base area, depending on the spawn points of the enemies, the enemy types in the following wave, the behaviour of the other team members and the forifications already built. Sometimes it is useful to buy an expensive upgrade or fortification like the silverback by combining the money of some players. Completing a challenge is a wise investment of time with bonus cash ($2500 if completed) and other rewards. After completing a challenge, you are rewarded with green boxes with a $ logo on it near your Command Posts. These reward boxes do not disappear and should be opened on more difficult waves, such as boss waves. The rewards typically contain ammo, explosives, and heavy weapons such as Boomshield, Mulcher, Boomshots, etc. Once the reward boxes are opened, the weapons and ammo should be picked up because they will disappear after the following wave ends. Active Poisons After each Boss Wave, the enemies you'll face become harder, gradually becoming more accurate, having more health, and dealing more damage. *Wave 11-20: Enemies have twice as much health. *Wave 21-30: Enemies have twice as much health and are twice as accurate. *Wave 31-40: Enemies have twice as much health, are twice as accurate, and deal double their normal damage. *Wave 41-50: Enemies have 2.5 times their normal health, are 2.5 times as accurate, and deal 2.5 times their normal damage. Challenges You will be presented with a bonus objective every 4 waves, as long as one player survivors each consecutive wave. Boss waves can never have a bonus challenge. While completely optional, completing them will give you much-needed supplies such as weapons, ammo and even more cash. If you fail to complete the challenge, you receive a partial amount of the promised cash depending on how good you performed with the exception of challenges to complete the wave in X time and complete with no players dying; these are either pass or fail. If completed, the team will earn $2500. The cash will be divided by the number of players participating, so everyone gets the same amount. Onyx Guard decoys that have been built will be counted in the amount of players to split the cash between, thus resulting in human players receiving less. Two supply boxes drop the moment the challenge is complete near activated command posts. Unlike dropped weapons, the supply crates will stay permanently with you, and can stack up. The rewards will disappear if the box is during the beginning of the wave after the box is opened. Example: If you open a crate just before Wave 3 begins, the contents will not disappear when Wave 3 begins, but will wait until Wave 4 begins. List of Challenges *Chainsaw or Bayonet Charge 6 enemies *Complete the Wave in x time (1:20 to 4:00) *Execute 8 enemies (Chainsaw and Bayonet charges count towards executions) *Headshot 7 enemies *Kill 7 infantry units with a turret (Silverback kills count toward this) *Kill 10 enemies in any 30 second window *Kill 2 Flame Boomers and/or Flame Grenadiers by detonating their fuel tank. *Complete the wave without any players dying (or leaving the match). List of Rewards A crate may contain one of the following: *Instant full ammunition for the weapons the team is carrying the moment the crate is opened and one grenade if the player has less than two, sometimes up to two ammo packs. *Two Mulchers and one Boomshield *5 Boomshots *Longshot and Torque Bow *Lancer, Retro Lancer, One Shot (always in a Wild Ticker), and a small ammo pack *Vulcan Cannon Mutators {C In the game lobby, in which the host has decided what difficulty, wave, etc., there will be a mutators option below. Mutators are earned from various things from the game such as achievements and multiplayer versus tasks.The host can pick up to 3 out of 15 mutators, either making it more fun, harder, or easier for players. Mutators will have an effect on the score multiplier at the end of a wave, either subtracting or adding points depending on which mutators are used. They have no effect on money earned within waves (which is related to the points scored from a kill etc.), but will lower or increase the money put towards fortification experience depending on the modifiers used. Notes: *Friendly Fire also affects fortifications (turrets and silverback can be damaged by players). Enemies hurt each other as well. *Using Pinata forces players to collect the coins to earn money and points which makes it rather hard than fun for horde. Killed enemies drop one coin per 50 points (example drone: three coins 105=50+50+5). Coins will disappear after a while. *Big Explosions affects tickers and the enemy`s explosive attacks as well, like boomshots and frag grenades. *No Ammo pickups means no refill of the starting weapons and pistols after each wave and also no ammo crates available for purchase. Investments Fortifications In between waves the player can see a display on the right side of the screen, showing the experience progress for each fortification type. Every Dollar spent fills the bars until level-up, which can result in new available fortifications or upgrades, less repair costs etc. {C Depending on the difficulty, the amount of money spent on fortications versus the amount actually used to level-up will vary. Difficulty Experience Effects: *Casual = 60% = 0.60 *Normal = 80% = 0.80 *Hardcore = 100% = 1.00 *Insane = 110% = 1.10 Note: These can be stacked with mutators: '' Fortification Experience = (Cash Spent) x (Difficulty Factor) x (1.0 + Mutator 1 + Mutator 2 + Mutator 3) Base Establishment $0 for the initial outpost, +$2000 for each outpost after the first. Barriers Enemies attempting to cross spikes or razor wire are greatly slowed and take damage, but cause a small amount of damage to the barricade. Enemies cannot cross electric or laser barriers (exception: most Bosses), but those barriers turn off when a player gets too close. Enemies can be downed and killed from razor wire to laser wire. Tickers who enter electrified or laser barriers will be killed instantly. Decoys Decoys are a useful distraction, drawing the fire of enemies in sight. Enemies will usually attack a decoy before they will attack a player. Grenades can be tagged on them (with exclusion of the Onyx Guard of course). At level 8, the Decoy becomes an Onyx Guard bot equipped with a Gnasher Shotgun. If he gets killed, you have to start at the first level of Decoy again when you go to rebuild it. If damaged, the bot will regenerate health just like players do and can be revived. Turrets Turrets in Horde 2.0 have a limited supply of ammunition and can be destroyed; explosive weapons can easily demolish a turret while wildly firing will deplete its ammunition. During the time between rounds, turrets have two repair fees attached to them: one for replenishing ammo and the second for repairing damage. Note that if a Troika is damaged, the smoke makes it a lot harder to aim. You can not repair a turret without first refilling its ammo completely. Sentries Sentry turrets autonomously attack enemies that enter their field of fire. Light and heavy sentries fire bullets, but the static sentry fires a directed-energy pulse that stuns its targets. Every enemy who enters the range and sight of a sentry can be seen through walls with Tac Com, much like the leaders ability in CTL. The Incendiary Sentry shoots bolts of fire at the enemies, and is highly effective against Berserkers and Lambent Berserkers. The range increases with every upgrade. Silverback Mech {C Before the title update/DLC level two Silverback would grant you 33% less repair. Due to the higher levels, this is now been split up between levels 2, 4, and 5. Each one is 11% bringing it back up to 33% at level 5. When purchased, the Silverback behaves generally like those found in the campaign. They can be deployed as cover and shoot a powerful minigun. Upgrades beyond level 2, which require DLC, add an upgrade for rockets. Rockets can only be fired in the static position and it takes 4 seconds to reload them. Command Centers The Command Center is capable of taking out several enemies at once. It disappears if triggered and must be rebuilt after each use to be used again in the next round. On indoor maps, the Command Center instead spawns a squad of Onyx Guards in an elevated, out of reach area to provide cover fire until some time has passed. It is crucial to know which areas the guards are able to reach with their weaponary to use them effectively. While the bots appear every time the center is activated on indoor maps (even if no enemy can be reached), the outdoor command center sometimes doesn`t trigger. If no enemy can be reached by the sniper squad or no enemy is under free sky to be hit by mortars or hammer strikes and the center would be wasted otherwise. Misc *Ammunition Box - $500 / $1000 (The increased price is for refilling completely empty weapons and or refilling a non-starter, non-pistol weapon) Ammo boxes don`t disappear if used. *Respawn (Buy back in after death) - $1500 (once per wave; increases by $1500 every tenth wave) Weapons *Weapon: Price (full ammo/ammo when bought/refill after wave if completely emptied) *Boltok Pistol: $300 (42/18/12) *Gorgon Pistol: $200 (224/96/64) *Snub Pistol: - (132/-/72) *Lancer: - (600/-/240) *Hammerburst: - (380/-/220) *Retro Lancer: - (330/-/150) *Gnasher Shotgun: - (39/-/8) *Sawed-Off Shotgun: - (6/-/3) *Boomshield: Free *Scorcher: $500 (345/180/-) *Longshot: $700 (24/8/-) *Boomshot: $850 (6/3/-) *Torque Bow: $700 (12/5/-) *Digger: $500 (6/3/-) *Hammer of Dawn: $850 *Smoke Grenade: $100 *Frag Grenades: $500 (2 grenades) *Ink Grenade: $250 *Incendiary Grenades: $400 (2 grenades) *Butcher Cleaver: - (12/-/-) *Mortar: $900 (3/3/-) *Mulcher: $900 (200/200/-) *One-Shot: $900 (3/3/-) Enemies *Enemy type (weapons used and dropped) - Points for being killed without downing, points when downed/points for being killed while down. Infantry *Drone (Hammerburst) - 105, 30/66 *Sniper (Long Shot) - 210, 60/132 *Grenadier (Gnasher Shotgun, Boltok Pistol, Frag Grenades) - 105, 30/66 *Grenadier Elite (Gnasher Shotgun, Boltok Pistol, Frag Grenades) - 245, 70/154 *Flame Grenadier (Scorcher) - 245, 70/154 (killing him blowing up his tank when downed makes a total of 315) *Bolter (Boltok Pistol) - 175, 50/110 *Cyclops (Lancer) - 210, 60/132 *Savage Drone (Retro Lancer) - 175, 50/110 *Theron (Torque Bow) - 280, 80/176 *Savage Theron (Cleaver, Boltok Pistol) - 175, 50/110 *Beast Rider (Hammerburst) - 175 *Reaver Pilot (Theron with Torque Bow) - 175 Humanoids *Kantus (Gorgon Pistol, Ink Grenades) - 420 *Armored Kantus (two Gorgon Pistols) - 700 Lambent *Lambent Drone (Hammerburst) - 105, (Gnasher Shotgun, Boltok Pistol) - 245 *Lambent Drudge (Hammerburst)/ Lambent Headsnake - 280 (Lambent Drudge)/ 420 (after mutation or killed while charging to explode)/ 175 (Lambent Headsnake) *Lambent Wretch - 140 *Former - 140 *Polyp - 105 (17 if produced by a mutated drudge) Beasts *Ticker - 105 *Wild Ticker - 70 *Wretch - 70 *Shrieker - 245 *Giant Serapede - 525 *Bloodmount - 420 Boomers *Butcher (Cleaver) - 210 *Boomer (Boomshot) - 385 *Flame Boomer (Scorcher) - 315 *Grinder (Mulcher) - 525 *Savage Boomer (Digger) - 385 *Mauler (Boomshield, Flail (not dropped)) - 525 Bosses *Berserker - 1400 *Brumak - 2800 *Savage Corpser - 875 *Lambent Berserker - 2100 *Gunker - 700 *Reavers (has 1 Reaver Pilot and 1 Reaver Rider) - 875 Strategies and Tips Overall Gameplay *In boss waves upon death a boss will respawn as long as Horde Meter is left. It is best to deal with the support troops, since players cannot possibly survive with 3 Berserkers roaming around. However, players must deal with support troops, since at wave 41+, a Grinder will have such accuracy, health, and damage that players can die at a rapid rate. The team must prepare to leave the base and move a lot. *It is best to pick up weapons from slain foes; ammo refilling is costly and unreliable at times, and usually collecting defeated foes ammo gets you a lot of ammo at once. Weapons disappear when the next wave's starter countdown ends. A good method is to collect the weapons after downing the last Locust of a wave (shoot the legs, he will die after about 50 seconds). *A Boss wave will switch to another boss if the group fails to overcome it too many times. *Enemies being attacked by a sentry can be seen using the Tac/Com (LB) *Use Tac/Com (LB) to locate weapon and ammo box spawn points. Unfortunately you have to go there to see if a weapon is still there or has been picked up already. *Tac/Com (LB) can be used to locate your team members. In between waves the player`s available money is displayed next to his/her gamertag. *Learn where the enemies spawn on a map, so you can choose a good position to fight them the moment they appear (but you must not be too close to their spawn point). You can also tag grenades in their spawn points. *Listen to the enemies. Their screams when spawning can reveal which enemy type approaches and from where they come. Furthermore they often tell you when they attack, retreat or move. *If you see a dust cloud similar to the ones emitted by an exploding smoke grenade, expect a group of smaller enemies to appear out of there (often Tickers, Wild Tickers, Wretches, Polyps, and rarely Formers or Shriekers). Sometimes a large group of different enemies will appear. *Spot weapons you don’t need so your teammates will have the time to grab them before the next wave starts. You must be relatively close to spot a weapon. *A decreasing health bar appearing on screen means a fortification is being damaged. Use this information to locate enemies. *Try to avoid fighting a boss in your base, for it will most likely destroy every fortification you have built so far. *If you have been downed while using a turret, try to get away from the turret quite a bit. Else a player trying to help you will most likely end up using the turret by pressing the X-button. *Take care to have enough space behind your back so you can drop out of a silverback in case of emergency. *Don't rush to the rescue if a player has been downed. Take your time to see what enemies are nearby and take them down if necessary. If there are too many, try to approach the player by taking a detour behind the enemy lines. Let him/her die if there is no chance to save him/her. *Think about the places to tag your grenades. Good spots are enemy spawning points and in front of, or in, barriers. Unfortunately they are often first reached by smaller, faster creatures like Tickers, activating and running past them without a scratch. Sometimes it is better to save one or two until you meet a bunch of enemies. *Remember that you can set off tagged grenades with other grenades or by shooting it. Enemies *Brumaks can go into a building by walking through the walls as seen in the map hotel. Furthermore it can shoot through thinner walls. *Brumaks trample down other enemies. *Brumaks will shoot chaotic homing missiles, hitting a player even in cover especially at closer range. Try to reach a spot where the missiles will not hit you or the ground behind you when the Brumak screams and gets ready to shoot. *Scorchers open the chest of a Lambent Berserker. *Don’t underestimate the Gunkers` melee attack, downing you instantly even in cover if too close. Use its imulsion missiles to get Locust off your back and to get them to attack the Gunker. *Savage Corpsers will be slowed down or stopped by barriers just like every other ordinary enemy type. But as soon as it gets hit some, it will scream and rush underground through the defenses, forcing the players to move a lot. So best bring it down fast when it screams or try to leave it alone until you have dealt with the rest of the boss wave. Silverback rockets are highly effective against them. *If a Corpser charges at you to do the three hack attack, a well-timed roll right into the approaching dustcloud, or to the side, can avoid the damage completely. *Kick Tickers so they can be shot from a safe distance. *In higher waves, expect one or two Tickers at the end of a wave because the game will not have enough meter left to send in bigger enemies. *Explosives, smoke grenades, and downed enemies force the Armored Kantus to scream, giving plenty of time to shoot his mouth with bullets and explosives. Scorchers are very effective as well. *Stay clear of a mutated Drudge. If both arms mutate (shooting imulsion balls), it is able to rip any infantry unit in half, killing it instantly. *Mutated Drudges that lose their legs and stay put will produce up to 12 polyps. *Take care not to face the base or other players while chainsawing or bayonet charging a Drudge. You may kick the mutating or exploding enemy right in causing damage. *Some challenges that require a certain weapon or some Boss Waves will spawn weapons at the players' Command Post (with full ammo). These can help you two ways, completing the challenge for supplies or as a visual clue for what Bosses you might face in said Boss Wave. For example, if Scorchers spawn at their base, players can expect to face either normal Berserkers or even a Lambent Berserker. *Lambent and locust will fight if provoked by one side shooting the other by mistake. *Unlike the Reavers encountered when you play Gears of War 1/2, these Reavers will move into your location spot to attack you. Each Reaver has 1 Reaver Pilot and 1 Reaver Rider (a Theron armed with a Torque Bow), in addition to a cannon. *Maulers and other large enemies can be used as meatshields against enemy fire. Just shoot them once they reach the electric/laser wire. Their dead body will absorb a substantial amount of fire before being blown into small pieces or disappearing. This can, however, be slightly counter-productive against extra Maulers. Maps *On the map Trenches, it is possible to get a Lambent Berserker temporarily stuck under the platform the Mortar/Mulcher spawns atop. *On the map Sandbar, it is possible to get a Brumak permanently stuck inside the archway of the Cave Spawn. *Some maps are more dynamic in Horde 2.0, with environmental hazards (for example, the sandstorm on Trenches) appearing at regular intervals. *Trenches and Overpass both have good high-ground cover that you can set a Command Post in. On Trenches, you can build the Command Post at the top in the middle forcing the Locust to come up the hill. The same can be said on Overpass. You can build the Command Post at the top of the stairs, forcing the locust to come up there. Money in Waves In a specific wave, the team always earns about the same amount of cash. As mentioned above, the money may vary depending on how the enemies are killed. Thus the following list can only provide average values: *Wave 1: ~$825 *Wave 2: ~$1600 *Wave 3: ~$2335 *Wave 4: ~$3100 *Wave 5: ~$4000 *Wave 6: ~$4700 *Wave 7: ~$5500 *Wave 8: ~$6300 *Wave 9: ~$7200 *Wave 10: ~$7800 In the following 10 waves, the cash rises by about $775 per wave (for example wave 11: $825 + $775 = $1600, wave 12: $1600 + $775 = $2375) and so on (wave 21: $1600 + $775 = $2375, wave 22: $2375 + $775 = $3150 etc). Enemies in Waves Regarding the "fixed" amount of money in every wave, the game chooses enemies it can be earned from, depending on the wave type and thus available enemy types. Enemy types exclusive to a wave type have the same colour as the corresponding wave type. ''Notes: *The game may shift to a different wave type if a wave fails or there happens to be a host migration. *Note that Corpsers are always accompanied by a Giant Serapede *Flame Grenadiers and Flame Boomers that appear because of the challenge (killing 2 by blowing off their tanks) are not included. *A smoke grenade will set off to disguise large groups spawning, such as Tickers, Polyps or Formers. *Drudges will start to mutate on wave 5 (15, 25, etc.). Trivia *Bosses and enemies are completely randomized. However, each specific enemy has a certain percentage chance of appearing. Certain enemies have a high chance of appearing, such as infantry units, while other enemies have a rare chance of appearing, such as Formers, Serapedes, Wretches and Bloodmounts. *If over $500 is earned from a kill, such as killing a grinder, the player will hear a "Cha-Ching" sound. *Like multiplayer modes, players can use weapons to unlock their special execution. This also counts for the Command Center kills. *If a player is downed, the enemy doesn`t finish him off at once. It takes about 10 seconds until an enemy capable of performing an execution moves in for the kill. The same behavior can be seen if an enemy is downed and revived by an infantry unit. It varies on the difficulty you are playing: when playing on insane, the enemies rush desperately to the kill, it might take 2 to 5 seconds. *An infantry unit can be downed twice. If you try to down him a third time he will die, no matter how carefully you shoot his legs. Note that the same happens to players: if they would be downed for the third time during one wave, they will die instantly. References Category:Multiplayer